Q&A: Academia, the Beit Midrash, and Combining the Two
Academia, the Beit Midrash, and Combining the Two
Question
Hello and blessings, Michi,
I’m currently studying computer science at university, first year, after having learned in a higher yeshiva for 5 years, and the studies require a great deal of investment.
How was your own period of study—especially since you continued on to advanced degrees—in terms of the ability to combine deep and serious Torah learning (I mean Talmud) and to “grow in Torah” while studying for a serious scientific degree? How did you manage to combine the two, and do you have any tips for integrating them?
I have a (disappointing) feeling that during the period of my studies I’ll have to neglect my Talmud learning (I’m not talking about Daf Yomi and the like).
Thank you very much in advance, and much appreciation.
Answer
Hello. In an undergraduate degree it’s very difficult. You can do it if you insist on setting aside substantial blocks of time (two or three hours) twice a week, or something like that.
It’s better to take on a task like writing an article on some analytical topic, and that way you’ll have continuity. That’s preferable to Daf Yomi, where you doze through it and rush just to keep up, but don’t produce anything meaningful. It requires determination that isn’t simple. In advanced degrees it’s easier, because the pace is in your hands.
Discussion on Answer
During my undergraduate degree I still wasn’t at the stage where I wanted to learn. So I can’t answer you in a relevant way.
What I can say is that I did quite a few things during my undergraduate degree that I saw as valuable, and it depends on how willing you are to give up on excellence and how important you see those other pursuits.
Here is the Yechaveh Da’at version.
For the Yabia Omer version —> https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%d7%90%d7%a7%d7%93%d7%9e%d7%99%d7%94-%d7%95%d7%9c%d7%99%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%93/
Both Einstein and the Rabbi got about an 80 in their undergraduate degree, so I’m in good company 🙂
A personal question:
When you were doing your undergraduate degree, did you have set time dedicated to Torah, or would you learn whenever the opportunity came up? And on average, how much did you end up learning per day during a regular semester routine (not exam periods or vacations)?